Dead Man's Ransom

De: Ellis Peters

Narrado por: Roe Kendall

It is early in the twelfth century, and the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud rages with renewed vigor. In the battle of Lincoln, the sheriff of Shropshire is captured, and the king himself is detained by his enemies. An exchange of prisoners is arranged: the sheriff will be bartered for a young Welsh lordling who has been captured during a misguided assault on a convent. All seems to be going according to plan until one of the prisoners dies under mysterious circumstances before the exchange is completed.

Canny as ever, Brother Cadfael suspects that more than a little evil is afoot, and before long his suspicions are confirmed. How Cadfael determines that the man's death was not a natural one is the stuff from which the best and most satisfying suspense stories are made.

In this case Ellis Peters's sleuthing Benedictine bases his indictment for murder on literally a single thread. Of extraordinary softness and hue, this filament will bind together the destinies of an unusual trio of young lovers. The unraveling of their tale yields a powerful subtext that explores the nature of love, identity, and divided loyalty.

A stunning conclusion and a memorable cast of characters, including the debut of the irrepressible Sister Magdalen, are sure to engage every devotee of medieval suspense.

©1994 Ellis Peters (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

love these characters

I have loved these stories since I first discovered Ellis Peter's writing many years ago. Gentle well told stories.

an excellent read.

everything about this book kept me engrossed. the story and how the author laid out the characters and the world really had me going. She also kept me guessing as to who done it. Great job.

Needs a different narrator

I have been a fan of Ellis Peters, Cadfeal stories for years. I also love to listen to audiobooks, and can be rather particular about the narrator's voice, and voice characterization.

This review may bother some people, but although the narrator did a valiant try to give life to the characters, these books are not the same when narrated by a woman. To me when doing a man's voice, and most of the characters are men, a women's voice is still too feminine. Especially, when imitating a man's frustration that, at the same time, is accompanied by a deep emotion. Trying to capture that difference did not work well. To me she sounded like a distraught women with a cold. As a matter of fact, all the male characters sounded like they had stuffy noses, or their voices were just on the cusp of cracking.

The story was all Cadfeal, but Cadfeal just does not sound like Cadfeal.

Books better than tv series

These books never fail to please. The Tv series was excellent but the books are even better. Not a big surprise. Books are always better